Sacked to the pack

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If Virginia Tech falls short of winning the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division, it won't have to look far to find the reasons. Miami proved in a 16-14 win Thursday night that there's nothing remotely championship-level about the Hokies' offense.

The victory put Miami in sole possession of first place in the division, while Tech (6-4 overall, 3-3 ACC) fell out of a tie for first and into a tie for fourth with Virginia. Though Tech's chances of reaching Tampa for the ACC championship game aren't gone, the Hokies no longer control their own fate in the matter, which they did entering the game against the Hurricanes. Tech is on a three-game road losing streak for the first time since 1997.

Miami (7-3, 4-2) only gained 247 yards, but it held Tech to just 250 and racked up six sacks. It was Tech's fifth game this season with 250 yards or fewer. Tech had 15 plays, excluding incompletions, that went for no gain or lost yards.

Tech's last chance to pull out a miracle in the fourth quarter ended after three plays at its 39-yard line.

Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor, a Hampton High graduate who played despite entering the game being listed as questionable due to a high left ankle sprain, was sacked on fourth-and-3 by defensive end Allen Bailey with 1:56 left. With no timeouts left, Tech couldn't stop the clock as Miami went to a knee to end the game.

Short, ineffective drives seemed to be a general theme for the game. Though Tech didn't turn the ball over, the Hokies still had trouble getting anything going, as six of their 11 drives lasted four plays or fewer. Miami had eight of its 12 drives go four plays or fewer.

After being forced to punt after three plays on its first drive, Miami jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its second drive when running Javarris James scored on a 3-yard run with 2:36 left in the first quarter. Quarterback Robert Marve ran for a gain of 7 yards and two gains of 15 yards on the drive, but the key play came when defensive end Orion Martin was penalized for roughing Marve on third-and-5 from Tech's 49 to keep the drive alive.

Taylor's presence allowed Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring to get a little more creative with his play-calling. Taylor and Sean Glennon rotated 12 times in the first half, and Greg Boone played one snap in the "Wild Turkey" formation.

Tech knotted the game in the second quarter when Taylor took a second-and-10 snap and ran 14 yards for a touchdown with 4:54 left. He ran for 23 yards on two plays during the eight-play, 53-yard drive.

The Hokies' Darren Evans was held to 43 yards on 17 carries. It was a huge letdown after he ran for a school-record 253 yards Nov. 6 against Maryland.

Despite opening the game 6-of-8 passing for 98 yards, Glennon only played three snaps in the third quarter and none in the fourth quarter.

Though Miami scored field goals on its first three drives of the second half, Tech's defense at least was able to buckle down inside the 20-yard line on each of the drives and keep the Hurricanes out of the end zone.

Tech's offense didn't provide much support in the third quarter. Miami had 114 yards in the quarter, compared to minus-11 for the Hokies. Tech had just 70 yards in the second half.

"It's hard to beat a good football team when you run six plays in the third quarter," Hokies coach Frank Beamer said. "We played that whole third quarter on our side of the field. The defense kept battling; they never gave in."

After Miami took a 13-7 lead with two third-quarter field goals, Tech had a chance to steal the ball away from the Hurricanes in the red zone. Yet, Miami survived with a little luck.

Marve completed a pass to Aldarius Johnson, but cornerback Victor Harris ripped the ball loose at Tech's 17. Defensive tackle Kwamaine Battle was unable to pounce on the ball and receiver Kayne Farquharson picked it up. Farquharson carried it down to Tech's 2. Tech again squelched Miami on three plays to prompt Matt Bosher to kick a 23-yard field goal, boosting the lead to 16-7 with 11:58 left in the fourth quarter.

Tech receiver Dyrell Roberts had a huge opportunity drop through his hands when he failed to haul in what would've been a 53-yard pass to Miami's 16 from Taylor with 7:34 remaining. Tech did manage to score on the 10-play, 69-yard drive, as Taylor had 32 yards rushing and completed 2 of 4 for 27 yards.

Late in the drive, Taylor completed a 17-yard pass to Boone on second-and-16 from Miami's 23. Taylor, who finished 6-of-12 passing for 75 yards to go with 43 yards rushing, followed the completion with a 6-yard run for a touchdown to slice Miami's lead to 16-14 with 3:28 left.

Tech's defense rose up once again, stopping Miami in three plays on its next drive — a drive that lasted 22 seconds and went 3 yards, as Tech burned both of its remaining timeouts. Unfortunately for Tech, Miami's defense was just as stout on the Hokies' final drive.

"They had that one drive where they scored a touchdown," Marve said. "But besides that, I think they went more backward than forward."